The present invention relates to an electrical connector to be connected to a flat conductive member. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electrical connector to be mounted on a mounting surface of a flat conductive member such as a circuit board and the like, so that the electrical connector is connected to the flat conductive member.
Patent Reference has disclosed a conventional electrical connector to be connected to a flat conductive member. The flat conductive member is inserted and pulled in a front-and-back direction, which is a direction horizontal to a mounting surface of a circuit board.
The conventional electrical connector disclosed in Patent Reference includes a housing, a plurality of terminals, and a movable member (a shell). The housing extends along the mounting surface in a direction perpendicular to the front-and-back direction as a longitudinal direction thereof. The terminals are arranged in the longitudinal direction as an arrangement direction of the terminals, and are held in the housing. The movable member is supported on the housing, so that the movable member is rotatable around a rotational center thereof between an open position and a close position relative to the housing. The flat conductive member is to be inserted into the conventional electrical connector while the movable member is situated at the close position.
Patent Reference: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-192574
In the conventional electrical connector, the housing further includes a receiving portion to receive the flat conductive member as a space opened backward. The movable member is supported on the housing at a position close to a rear end of the movable member with the rotational center at both ends thereof in the terminal arrangement direction.
In the conventional electrical connector, each of the terminals (contacts) includes two types of contacts, namely an upper contact and a lower contact. The upper contact contacts with an upper surface of the flat conductive member, and the lower contact contacts with a lower surface of the flat conductive member, respectively, through an elastic force. The upper contact and the lower contact are provided at positions so as to tightly press the flat conductive member regardless of the open/closed state of the movable member. The upper contact and the lower contact tightly press the flat conductive member with the elastic force once the flat conductive member starts entering the conventional electrical connector.
In the conventional electrical connector, the movable member has a flat spring portion. The flat spring portion is formed through notching a part of the movable member. The flat spring part has an engaging protrusion. When the movable member is situated at the close position, and the flat conductive member is inserted up to a certain position against the elastic force of the flat spring-like part, the engaging protrusion enters an engaging hole formed in the flat conductive member, so that the flat conductive member is prevented from coming off.
In the conventional electrical connector, when the flat conductive member is pulled out from the conventional electrical connector, the movable member is rotated toward the open position, so that the engaging protrusion is disengaged from the engaging hole and the flat conductive member is removed.
According to the conventional electrical connector disclosed in Patent Reference, when the flat conductive member is pulled out while the movable member (the shell) is rotated to the close position, the movable member stops at the open position unless the movable member is rotated in a specific way. However, when the movable member stays being lifted at the open position, the movable member becomes an obstacle for connecting other electronic components on the circuit board, on which the conventional electrical connector is mounted. In addition, when the flat conductive member is inserted into the conventional electrical connector again, it is necessary to rotate the movable member to the close position. When it is necessary to connect a large number of electronic components, it is necessary to rotate the movable member to the close position each time, thereby making it difficult to simplify the connection operation, and to reduce an amount of work as much as possible.
In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector to be connected to a flat conductive member capable of solving the problems. In the electrical connector, a movable member is configured to automatically rotate back from the open position to the close position after the flat conductive member is pulled out from the electrical connector.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the present invention.